


Life as a Werewolf is... Embarrassing

by EmilArchangelNemisis_Tardis_Pantalaemon7



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Mild Angst, There are some mild swear words
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-01-23 13:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21321004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilArchangelNemisis_Tardis_Pantalaemon7/pseuds/EmilArchangelNemisis_Tardis_Pantalaemon7
Summary: Werewolves all have a Mate. Just the one, whom they will love unconditionally and forever. Remus Lupin has spent his whole life waiting for his. So imagine his feelings when he finds out his is none other than his best friend's son, Harry Potter.Obviously, being the principled man he is he's not going to do anything about it, and who would want him anyway?No, everything will be just fine... As long as no one finds out. Two years later when Harry's overprotective Godfather stumbles on the secret though, Remus might just have to flee, but that's fine. As long as Harry doesn't know how he feels, that would just be embarrassing...  What's an extendable ear, Fred?
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Harry Potter
Comments: 11
Kudos: 82





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [usghostfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/usghostfire/gifts).
  * Inspired by [With Love There Is Pain](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4913935) by [usghostfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/usghostfire/pseuds/usghostfire). 

> There aren't nearly enough nice easy going Remus/Harry works that don't involve polyamory, violence or grief in some way. These two nice blokes deserve a break.
> 
> I don't know guys, this was an impulse write so whether I continue or not depends entirely on how many lovely comments I get... hint hint.

Sirius came into the kitchen at Grimmuald place where Remus was helping Harry and the others with their homework which was spread like autumn leaves over the kitchen table.

He cleared his throat loudly and Remus looked up from where he was explaining something harry had written in his latest essay.

“Hi Sirius, how’d it go?”

“I, er, I need to talk to you Moony.”

A frown line creased Remus’ forehead. Sirius looked uncommonly, well, serious. 

“Okay, excuse me Harry.” Harry nodded and Remus got up and followed Sirius into the neighbouring room. Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Twins looked at each other and instantly reached for the extendible ears, sliding them under the door in record speed. 

“… alright Padfoot?”

“Huh? Oh. Yes, yes I’m fine I just…” He sighed, “Remus when were you going to tell me about Harry?”

“About Harry what?” Remus sounded utterly bewildered now.

“It’s just... do you remember that time you forgot to take your potion?” 

Remus’ voice was flat when he responded. “I’m hardly going to forget.”

“Right. Well you know Dumbledore had Severus look through your memories to make sure you hadn’t, you know…”

They heard an intake of breath and Lupin’s voice was shaky when he responded. “Oh God. Did I… did I attack someone, k-kill someone?” He sounded almost close to tears, he was so panicked.

“What? NO! God no, nothing like that. It’s just… I mean maybe he was mistaken, but Severus he, well, he also saw something else while looking through your memories. He didn’t mention it to anyone until today, but I don’t think he knew what it meant.”

“Just spit it out already Sirius.” Lupin was clearly on edge with fright.

“Right. Well he said, I mean he implied that”, he took a deep breath, “Harry might be your mate.”

The silence was so complete you could have heard a pin drop. 

Harry and the others waited with bated breath, then they heard a long slow exhale from Remus.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t…”, Sirius started angrily, but Remus cut him off.

“No, it doesn’t.” Harry could just imagine the glare Sirius must've got to shut him up then. “I would never harm Harry, you know that. He’s James’ son for Pete’s sake.”

“You don’t get to chose your mate.”

“Don’t you think I know that?! Hell I know that better than you do. And if I did, do you really think I would have chosen someone 20 years my junior who also happened to be my student and son of my best friend?”

“You love him.” Sirius stated. His tone not quite accusatory.

“Of course I do. I couldn’t not love him. But that doesn’t mean that I have to do anything or that he ever has to know. It’s not safe.”

“If this is you getting all self sacrificing over being a werewolf again” Sirius began

“Dammit Sirius, do you really want me in a romantic relationship with your own godson?”

Sirius shut his mouth. 

“Like I said”, Remus continued, his tone somewhat calmer now, “It doesn’t matter.”

They heard a sigh through the extendable ears, Sirius sounded defeated, “I’m sorry Remus, I know how long you’ve waited for your mate.”

“Don’t Siri, just don’t.” Harry thought he’d never heard Lupin sound so tired.

“I just wanted you to be happy.” 

Remus gave him a wry smile, “Well it seems Fate has other ideas.” 

Most of the others where too frozen with shock to notice at that moment, but Fred heard the two men approaching the door and swiftly reeled in the extendable ears.

Sirius came in, clapped his hands together in mock joviality and asked what they all wanted for supper. Remus came in and sat back down next to Harry and everything resumed its previous pace, only with Hermione, the Twins and Ron sending Harry and each other surreptitious glances every few minutes. 

Thankfully, Remus seemed too lost in his own train of thought to notice. Supper seemed to pass with the usual cheer, perhaps Harry was imagining it, but there seemed to be a slight undercurrent of tension that hadn’t been there before. Finally the table was cleared and Harry, Hermione and the Weaslys excused themselves, retreating to his and Ron’s room to discuss what they’d heard. It wasn’t until the door closed behind them that the outburst finally occurred. 

“You’re his MATE?” Ron exclaimed as soon as the door was closed.

“Keep it down, Ron”, Hermione complained with a swift glance at the door behind her, but she looked just as worried. 

Harry shook his head, “I don’t understand, what did they mean by Mate?”

“A werewolf’s mate is basically like a soulmate. They’re the one person they will ever truly love with all their being, I mean they can love others, but not to the same extent and certainly not romantically,” Fred said looking just as troubled as the other two.Harry felt his legs go weak and he sat down on the bed behind him. _Romantically? Him and Remus?_

“It doesn’t have to be romantic,” Hermione quickly chimed in, “From what I’ve read werewolves love their mates completely and unconditionally, it’s the strongest form of love there is. They just want them to be happy.” She sat down next to Harry on the bed looking at him and her expression softened. “Wolves don’t get to choose their Mates. They know who they are from the moment they meet them, but Remus didn’t chose this. You heardwhat he said. He’s not expecting anything. This could actually be a good thing.”

Ron exploded, “How in the Hell is being the chosen of a werewolf a good thing?!”

Hermione glared at him. “This is Remus we’re talking about. You know he’d never harm Harry and, frankly, I think, given the number of enemies we have to deal with right now, having another person who loves and will protect him can only be a good thing!”

Ron and the Twins didn’t look convinced, but Hermione simply turned back to Harry, her hair swishing at them dismissively. "You don't have to do or feel anything you don't want to Harry. Remus cares about you, we already knew that, this is just a bit more than we thought he did."

"And not in the same way." Ron piped up, "I'm sorry Hermione, but you don't know as much about werewolves as we do, reading about them in books can only get you so far. Wizards have lived with them for centuries, the stories we hear..."

"Are just stories!" Hermione interrupted standing up angrily, "Ron this is just like with the House Elves, you take it for granted because it's all you've ever known, but I look at just the _facts_ and the _fact__s_ are that there is no reason for us to be worried about this."

Ron looked like he was about to explode. "No reason?! They're out of control Hermione. I'm not saying Remus isn't a decent bloke, I know he is, but he's got a condition! He can't always control himself and that's not prejudice that is a _fact. _Harry is human, he's not. They're different species," Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Ron plowed on over her, "Remus is _20 years_ older than Harry, he's one of Harry's father's oldest friends, our teacher _and _he's a dude and Harry fancies girls, right Harry?" 

Harry shrugged. "Don't really know."

Ron blinked at him. "Huh?" was his 'oh, so eloquent' response. 

"Well, I," Harry felt his cheek flush a little under the eyes of the Twins and Ron looking at him, Hermione simply looked a little bemused. "I may have, sort of, had a bit of a crush on him when he taught us in third year. Nothing major, just, you k-know." He felt his cheeks heat up even more as he started to stutter. 

Hermione nodded sympathetically, "Probably you were sensing your side of the bond."

Harry looked at her quizzically and she explained. "While the bond is strongest for Lupin, at least at this stage, you probably would feel at least some form of attraction to him. According to the Complete Werewolf Encyclopaedia by Miranda Goshawk if you were ever to, erm," she flushed slightly, "consummate the bond then it would effect you both equally. But since that's not likely to ever happen," she said in a rush, "then you don't need to worry about that." She looked at her hands fidgeting on her lap. 

Harry cleared his throat, "Right. Ok, well since this doesn't really change anything right now and we've discussed everything that matters for tonight, how about we all head to bed? It's late and I could do with some rest." Ron nodded and everyone dispersed. Truthfully harry just wanted some alone time lying in bed that night to figure how he felt about all this, but he wasn't lying about being tired and his head had barely hit the pillow when he drifted off to sleep.

Next morning at breakfast Ron and Hermione weren't talking to each other, Harry suspected they'd had another disagreement about Lupin, and after a few half hearted attempts to bridge the gap Harry gave up and ate his breakfast in silence thinking over what he'd discovered last night. 

His feelings toward Lupin up until this point had been complicated, but honestly Harry hadn't really put much effort into trying to figure them out either. They were just there. But now he needed too. Ok to start off with, how did he feel about apparently being Lupin's One True Love?

Well, like Hermione said last night it didn't really change anything, at least, not right now. He wasn't ready for it. It might change something in the future when he felt he was ready and wasn't currently being distracted by Dark Lords trying to do him in every year. He was glad that Lupin cared about him and knew that he cared for the man too, in his own way. He had always looked up too and admired him, maybe bordering on hero worship when he was 13, but Remus was... complicated, how could he not be with his past? Harry simply felt he didn't know the man well enough to say he loved him or whether he could love him, but he knew Remus was a good, kind man and, for now, that was all he needed. He felt sorry for the man, waiting years to find his Mate only to find out it was some whom he could never, in all likelihood, be with. Still Harry couldn't comfort him, couldn't offer him false hope, when he honestly didn't know what he could offer, if anything. He was only 15, and while he had certainly had a crush on the guy Harry was still not really prepared for, all that side of things. He'd only just admitted to himself last night for the first time that he was bi, not because the though bothered him, but rather because he just hadn't really considered that matter before. It occurred to him then how much of normal teenage life he must be missing out on, how much more would he have thought about girls and dating if he hadn't spent most of last year figuring out how to fight dragons and survive underwater. He suddenly felt very sad and lonely for some reason. A part of him wanted Remus there, just to talk too, but he'd headed off to do some task or other late last night and hadn't gotten back yet. 

Over the course of the next few days, things settled back into their normal routine at Grimmauld place, Hermione and Ron soon made up and went back to bickering over homework, while the twins continued to develop their various pranks complete with loud bands and explosions, mysterious smells and oddly flashing lights. Various Order members came and went and more than once Mrs. Weasly roped them into completing house chores around the mansion. 

It was a few days before Harry began to wonder why Remus hadn't stopped by again. It wasn't unusual for him to be out on order business, but he was rarely gone so long and Harry wanted to talk to him. Not about the Mate thing, no Harry though he might just die of embarrassment if he tried, but he still wanted to speak to him. Harry felt he would be able to get a much better grasp of his feelings toward the man if he were around.

“Remus still isn’t here?” Harry asked at breakfast that morning as they all sat down. Sirius frowned slightly, “No, I don’t know what’s happened to him. He just came into the kitchen late Saturday night and said something had come up and he had to go.” Sirius shrugged and turned to head back into the kitchen. bBehind his back Harry and Ron had seen the colour drain from Hermione’s face at his words and her hand raised half way to her mouth. As soon as he was out of the room Ron asked, “Hermione? What’s up?” 

She looked distressed, “Saturday night. That’s when we overheard them talking about Harry being Remus’ Mate.”

“So?” Harry asked, but a leaden feeling had begun to settle in the pit of his stomach. 

“So, they don’t know about the extendable ears, but I forgot Remus is a werewolf. He wouldn’t _need_ extendable ears to be able to overhear us, ever from down here.”

Ron spoke up, “Are you saying he heard us discussing Harry being his Mate in our room?” 

Hermione nodded and Harry felt a little queasy. He stood up startling both of the other two. “You know what I’m not feeling hungry anymore, I’ll see you both later.” And with that he all but fled out of the room. He headed up to the attic and Buckbeak, he needed sometime alone to think through things. It was just his luck that Remus should overhear and flee. Now he might never get to see the man he was slowly coming to accept he had feelings for ever again. 


	2. Chapter 2

Harry scowled down at his letter. It was the fifth one he had started so far.

_Dear <strike>Prof</strike> Remus, _

_<strike>How are you?</strike> I know that you heard what we said on Saturday night <strike>and I'm sorry.</strike>_ _I know that that is probably not what you wanted to hear and that you are probably angry at us for listening in and for that I am sorry, but I know now. _

_I understand that you did not chose this and that you are not interested in taking our relationship beyond what it now is. Honestly I'm not ready for something like that either, but I do consider you one of my closest friends. I have always looked up to you and valued your opinion and I would be very sorry to lose that. I understand if you are busy with Order business, but I wanted to let you know that I <strike>miss you</strike> would appreciate your company if you feel you can spare the time before the end of the holidays. _

_All the best,_

_Harry _

Harry's stomach churned in indecision. Did he sound too needy? He ran his hand through his already messy hair. Honestly at this point he was just so frustrated with re-writing the letter he was tempted to just send it and hang the consequences. He hoped he would not regret that decision later. With a sigh and a quick whistle in Hedwig's direction his note was out the window and flying off to wherever Remus was now. Well. For better or worse...

\------

Remus was leaning up against a cold stone wall, water flowing in a steady stream down its slick surface. He let out a breath and rested his head against the rock remembering back to the day he's first met Harry. Lily and James had gone into hiding the moment he was born and he had been under suspicion back then (everyone had at one point or another) so he hadn't had a chance to meet their baby boy. The first time he'd seen Harry he had woken to the horrible feeling of despair sinking through his bones, the crackle of blue fire and a patronus later and in the failing light he saw a small dark haired boy sinking to the floor beside him. 

A pale face beneath night black hair, small curled in onself and remus felt a surge of protective instinct crest over him like a wave. _Mine!_ A voice snapped inside him, one he hardly reconised as himself. Hand trembling with the effort of holding back he placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder (so thin), and called to him, stil unaware of the name passing his lips. His eyes creeked open and he met green, emerald green just like Lily’s and suddenly the world came back into focus around him, like a fog had lifted he could hear the creaking of the train, the sniffling of another student. Lily, those eyes… his eyes drifted slowly up to the child’s forehead. Scar. Harry. The name he’s been calling was Harry. Harry Potter.

Breathe, he thought to himself. Just breathe. So he did. And he smield and reassured and did all the things a responsible adult was supposed to do and got out of there as fast as he could. His legs were cardboard and they didn’t seem to want to bend properly at the knee. He should probably stop to check the other compartments, he keep going, in… out, in.. out. Iiin, out. His robe swirled around him as he shut the bathroom cubicle door behind him. His head swam with his breathing and for a moment he wasn’t sure if it was the train spinning, leaving him suspended in mid-air or if it was his own lightheadedness. He leadned against the sink and clumsy hands splashed water into his face. Harry. Harry Potter. It was Harry Potter. Rasping air deep into his lungs, filling him up where his world had just dropped out through his chest. Potter…

He Knew. There was nothing romantic in his feelings for the boy then, it was more like he had a baby brother who he was proud of and loved and would do anything for, but somehow, unimaginably, hadn't known about two minutes earlier. He had almost chocked. He handed out chocolate and was reassuring and did all the things he thought a teacher should do and then he fled the compartment. He locked himself in the bathroom down the hall for his panic attack. For a full five minutes he couldn't breath and his vision blurred with floaters while the oxygen failed to reach his brain. He ran through every excuse, every possible reason he might feel that way toward someone he knew, logically though not emotionally, was a complete stranger. He attempted every possible justification, he reminded him of someone else maybe, or perhaps it was just his wolf's unexpected paternal instincts now that he was a teacher, but he knew, if he was honest with himself, that there was no other possible justification. The boy, Harry Potter, because how could it not be, was his mate. Gosh darn it!

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo whatcha think? 
> 
> I'm thinking of going back in time a bit for the next chapter, going over Harry and Remus' past interactions from Remus' point of view to explore a little of the context.


End file.
